Before the start of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb.18, 2018, baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron called NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace on pit road at Daytona International Speedway. Aaron endured much racist vitriol as he neared and finally broke Babe Ruth's Major League career home-run record. Aaron's record of 755 home runs stood for more than 30 years. Jeff Sinerjsiner@charlotteobserver.com

Before the start of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb.18, 2018, baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron called NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace on pit road at Daytona International Speedway. Aaron endured much racist vitriol as he neared and finally broke Babe Ruth's Major League career home-run record. Aaron's record of 755 home runs stood for more than 30 years. Jeff Sinerjsiner@charlotteobserver.com

NASCAR Cup Series | Results and 3 takeaways from Sunday’s Daytona 500

Austin Dillon won the 60th Daytona 500 on Sunday, his second career victory, but there are other implications from the race as well. Here are the three biggest takeaways from Sunday’s race:

1. NASCAR’s youth movement is for real

At 27, Dillon isn’t even the youngest rising star in NASCAR’s pipeline, but his win keeps momentum going for the sport’s next generation. Three 24-year-old drivers finished in the top 20. Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. finished second, Ryan Blaney came in seventh and Alex Bowman 17th in a depleted field. That doesn’t even count Chase Elliott, 22, or William Byron, 20; both crashed out of the race despite running well early. All of which is a long-winded way of saying that this feels like the season NASCAR’s “young stars” turn into just “stars” – and that’s exactly what NASCAR needs right now.

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2. Impressive start for the new Chevrolet

Last season, it took a few races before the new Toyota Camry was up and running to its full potential. That led many to expect a similar grace period for this season’s new car, the Chevy Camaro. So much for that. Elliott gave us a taste of the new Camaro’s potential during Thursday’s qualifying duels, but that was only the beginning. Both Dillon and Wallace drove it with success on Sunday, and ultimately three of the top-five finishers were Chevrolets (with one Toyota and Ford, too). Now, expectations should be tempered. Daytona is a restrictor-plate track (which along with Talladega makes it one of NASCAR’s most unpredictable), and a large portion of the field crashed out. Which brings us to ...

3. A great race, but ...

What did we really learn about this season tonight? Probably not as much as some would like to think. Are the young drivers good? Yes ... but we already sort of knew that, right? Is the new Chevy good? Yes... but again, we knew that was coming, too. Realistically, it won’t be until next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway that we see how good these cars are. There figure to be fewer wrecks, less craziness and more traditional driving that fits a 1.5-mile track. There, you’ll see which cars have the pure speed needed to collect stage points and wins over the long haul. Maybe it’s the young guns and the Chevrolets that stand out there too, but there’s also a good chance we see more of a return to the average. Again, we won’t know until Atlanta.

The memory of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt's 1998 victory at Daytona International Speedway isn't far from driver Austin Dillon's memory. In fact, Dillon can watch the victory through a window at the team's shop, where it plays continuously. Twenty years ago, Earnhardt received a lucky penny from a young girl and won the Daytona 500. Dillon won the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018 after receiving a penny from a young fan during an autograph session a few days ago. The legendary N. 3 Chevrolet returned to Victory Lane with Earnhardt's close friend and Dillon's grandfather Richard Childress standing alongside on the dais. Jeff Sinerjsiner@charlotteobserver.com

Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr., NASCAR’s only black driver, broke down with his mother and sister after finishing second in his first career Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2018. Brendan Marksbmarks@charlotteobserver.com

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): R.Blaney, 5 times for 113 laps;D.Hamlin, 4 times for 18 laps;Ku.Busch, 3 times for 13 laps;A.Bowman, 3 times for 11 laps;E.Jones, 1 time for 10 laps;R.Stenhouse, 1 time for 10 laps;C.Elliott, 1 time for 3 laps;M.Truex, 1 time for 3 laps;J.Logano, 1 time for 2 laps;A.Allmendinger, 1 time for 0 laps;A.Almirola, 1 time for 0 laps;A.Dillon, 1 time for 0 laps;J.Marks, 1 time for 0 laps;P.Menard, 1 time for 0 laps.